


beginning

by kristinnlizz



Series: 30 Day Challenge [1]
Category: The Used
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-02
Updated: 2013-06-02
Packaged: 2017-12-13 17:50:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/827112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kristinnlizz/pseuds/kristinnlizz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Quinn invites Bert to try out for his band, his bandmates are less than thrilled about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	beginning

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first of a 30 day writing challenge which has 30 different one-word prompts. The title is the prompt. Not sure if this will work out like I want it to, but I'm going to try to use the same characters with the same storyline for all thirty of them, which is why the relationship here isn't very developed. Just go with it, okay? I promise it will get better as the month goes on, just trust me xoxo

Quinn sat with Jeph and Branden on the old couch in his parents’ garage, staring out the open garage door at the sunny day outside. He didn’t want to get his hopes up, but he really felt like the world was trying to tell him something with this weather, and his positivity was through the roof. Jeph and Branden, on the other hand, were a little less optimistic. They were waiting for one Bert McCracken.

Their band was in serious need of a vocalist and Quinn felt like he had done the others a favor by inviting McCracken to try out, but the deed had actually earned Quinn a one-way ticket to eye-roll city all week long. Before Quinn had met Bert, he never would have imagined that he would ever bond so intensely or have so much in common with a grungy drug addict who had recently lived in the streets, especially after only two weeks. When the two of them met, a very high Bert had been sitting on a park bench in clothes that all but hung off of him, scribbling furiously in a notepad and yelling at Quinn for blocking his sunlight, and now Bert was sleeping in the guest bedroom at Quinn’s house and was already gaining weight. Quinn’s parents were slowly helping Bert with his addiction, and Quinn not only felt like he was helping Bert as well by hanging out with him every day, but he actually liked the guy. He thought it was great living with someone who he now considered to be one of his friends, and Bert was actually pretty cool once one got past his weird trips, and even then, the guy wasn’t that terrible to be around; Bert’s trips mostly consisted of him writing a lot of poetry and sleeping a lot.

All things considered, Quinn could understand why Jeph and Branden would have concerns about letting Bert into the band, but he had faith in Bert and knew that it would be fine. Plus, after eavesdropping on Bert singing in his room the other day, there was no way that Quinn could pass up an opportunity like this. He had asked Bert to write some lyrics for some music they had written and show up with it today, and Bert had been gone from the house since then, except to come back to sleep.

Finally Quinn saw the thin, dark-haired figure coming up the sidewalk, shielding his eyes from the sun. The tall blonde checked his watch, only to be surprised that Bert was actually exactly on time. He stood up as Bert entered the garage, followed by Jeph and Branden. “Hey dude,” he greeted, extending his fist for a quick bump. Bert got right down to business, however, promptly extending his other hand, which held a slightly crumpled piece of notebook paper filled with blue ink.

“Hey. I wrote this just this week. I thought about giving you guys a piece that I had already written, but I felt like I needed a clean slate for it, and I wasn’t sure if I liked it at first, but I just kept with it and decided to love it at the end. I’m not sure exactly what to call it, but I was thinking on the way over here that it could be called ‘Maybe Memories,’ but I don’t know, we can change that if you guys don’t like it,” Bert replied while stumbling over his words a little and avoiding a lot of eye contact with Jeph and Branden, looking only directly at Quinn. The whole time that he spoke, a smile tugged at the corners of Quinn’s mouth like a child begging for attention. He knew that it was kind of messed up, but he thought that Bert’s nervousness around his band was a little cute, especially since he was never like that when it was only the two of them; in fact, Bert was usually an uncontrollable ball of energy.

Quinn gently pulled the piece of paper from Bert’s hand and released an amused laugh, reading quickly through the piece. Jeph and Branden gathered behind him in order to read it for themselves, and when they all finished, Quinn turned to see them nodding in approval. “This is really great, Bert,” Quinn exclaimed, clapping his new friend on the shoulder.

“Let’s put all this together,” Jeph exclaimed with a sudden enthusiasm, already halfway across the garage to grab his bass. Quinn was startled by Jeph’s outburst of positivity, but he went with it, grabbing Bert gently by the wrist and pulling him over to the mic stand. After adjusting it to his friend’s height and glancing around quickly to make sure everyone was in place, he turned to look at Branden as a signal to begin.

Moments later, Bert was screaming and then singing, and Quinn grinned much like a proud mother as he watched his friend’s lack of confidence dissipate in an instant. And Bert was good, even better than he expected, and even better looking with a mic stand thrashing around in his hand than he had imagined. Quinn sent a cocky expression over to Jeph and Jeph only bowed his head in defeat and pressed his lips into a tight line, knowing that he and Branden would definitely be forced to buy them all burgers tonight.


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